Search - Oasis :: Cigarettes & Alcohol

An incredibly great CD single

Dave | United States | 04/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What a thrill rush it was for me listening to Oasis' exhiliarting debut album "Definitely Maybe" album back in March of 1995. By all means, I was eager to hear more from these blokes, and imagine my surprise when I came across "Cigarettes & Alcohol", an absolute gem of a CD single. At this point, it's widely confirmed that Oasis' CD singles are a huge part of their legacy--their b-sides were typically just as great as the songs that made it onto the official albums--but back in '95, I didn't really know any better, and I just picked this up starving for more Oasis material. The title track was the 4th & final A-side culled from "Definitely Maybe", and with its T. Rex-derived riff, it's a great example of the exciting rock & roll blast Oasis were serving up so regularly back then. Then for the b-sides which were then unavailable on album... They totally tear it up with their cover of "I Am the Walrus" which has a great Liam vocal and an extended jam section with impressive guitar heroics (did Noel actually play all that stuff?!?); call me nuts, but in terms of sheer power & enjoyment, it blows away the Beatles studio version which suffers from botched execution. Then you get a pair of Noel Gallagher originals--he delivers another soaring rock 'ballad' with the epic "Listen Up" which is in the same league as "Live Forever", and the disc closes with the hard-charging, wistful rocker "Fade Away". In the end, this disc, which runs nearly 24 minutes, really does have the feel of a genuine EP--Oasis used the CD single format as an opportunity to offer up more greatness as opposed to something tossed off merely to satisfy record company obligations. All 3 of the b-sides subsequently turned up on their 1998 b-sides compilation "The Masterplan" (although "I Am the Walrus" appears to have been edited/ shortened) but "Cigarettes & Alcohol" remains an incredibly great CD single in its own right."